Sir Roland was chairman of United until March 2002

Sir Roland Smith, who was 75, had been suffering from the disease for six months.

Sir Roland, who also recently retired as chancellor of UMIST university in Manchester, died at a clinic in Berkshire.

He retired as chairman of Manchester United in 2002, but friends said he had retained his passion for the club and had been watching games from his hospital bed.

Sir Roland was the son of a Manchester policeman and had enjoyed a highly successful business and academic career.

He went to the former Burnage Grammar School before studying at Birmingham University.

Professor Cary Cooper, from UMIST, who had known Sir Roland for 30 years, described him as a "great man and a Mancunian through and through".